Dominant and alternative views of teen males

Practise of one extract with the two exam style questions

How does the advert use media language to engage the audience?

The advert starts off with an enigma, you hear the voice of a woman inviting somebody in to take a seat, this voice connotes mother-like qualities, it sounds calm, loving and caring which could connote the advert to be about caring or looking after somebody or something (health advert maybe?) another enigma is who is this person the woman is inviting in? At the start we do not see the characters face which does in some way disengage the audience as they aren't able to straight away identify with the character but it could engage them due to it being an enigma, it does push away one gender or socio group due to the character being represented as that, it's trying to attract as many different types of audiences as possible, long enough to keep the audiences attention from being diverted. 

The camera starts off from a low-angle and is picked up as if it were interviewing the character who is being invited in. The advert is of course a Barnardos advert and this particular advert is about a life story of one of the children that was being helped by Barnardos, so the camera movement could connote the characters life story, Barnardos helped pick it up and rise. The lighting was low-key, the majority of the light on the characters face was coming from the window next to him, this allowed the darkness/slight shadows to appear on the characters face this could connote the bad side of the character or the bad life he had as a child.

When being asked questions the character says he has nightmares and has a child and doesn't want his child to go through what he has been through, again this creates the enigma of what did this character go through? what nightmares has he had? this again would attract an audience, they would want to know the answers to these questions. Another thing that engages the audience is the amazing edits, the edits make it look as if there is one smooth camera movement through the life story and the character getting younger but of course as each time the character gets younger the edits cut but are disguised to look like one smooth camera movement, this type of editing is very unique and rarely ever been used in such a way and of course seeing something which seems different would attract an audience, it confuses them but makes them want to see more, the smooth edits could connote the way Barnardo deal with the children they help, they help them slowly and smoothly move and progress into a better person and live a better life.

The emotions and facial expressions created by the characters are portrayed very well, you can see and feel the emotions of the characters this allows the audience to identify with the characters, some audience members may be going through similar tough times and they can see how they aren't alone, this engages the audience as the characters could be representing feelings that the audience have. The non-digetic music which plays over as a sound bridge allows the audience to feel sympathy, the music is sad and is parallel to the video which speaks of a sad life story which progresses into a happy ending.

Also due to the fact that it shows a life story it connotes that Barnardos doesn't just help young children, they will help people along the whole way of their life so this is appealing to a wide audience and the fact that it does show the different actors playing that one character at different stages of his life could allow different ages/audiences identify with at least one of the life stages/characters, which would engage the audience.

How is the barnardos represented in the video?

The female voice with mother-like qualities could connote Barnardos as a caring and loving charity, they are seen as a mother which connotes love and affection and someone who is always there for you. The editing used is straight cuts which are disguised to look like one smooth movement from each actor, it could connote that Barnardos help children no matter what problems they have and they are able to smooth out their lives and improve them slowly.

Also at the start the camera starts off from a low-angle and is picked up which connotes that Barnardos helps children who are feeling low and down and are struggling in life and they will help lift them up and help them with everything they can, so the camera movement could connote the characters life story, Barnardos helped pick it up and rise. 

The lighting was low-key, the majority of the light on the characters face was coming from the window next to him, this allowed the darkness/slight shadows to appear on the characters face this could connote the bad side of the character or the bad life he had as a child, but as the character gets younger it shows the lighting getting darker (more shadows are shown, becoming more and more low-key lighting) this could connote that Barnardos had helped this character get rid of his darkness or bad past, they helped the character improve as a person, but as seen at the start the character still has low-key lighting on his face which connotes that Barnardos were not able to fully restore the character to a perfect life, the character as he gets younger has more low-key lighting on his face meaning that Barnardos has changed the character as he has grown. The lighting connotes that Barnardos can help improve the character but there will always be some darkness in their life, but it will be less than before.

Also due to the fact that it shows a life story it connotes that Barnardos doesn't just help young children, they will help people along the whole way of their life so this is appealing to a wide audience and the fact that it does show the different actors playing that one character at different stages of his life could allow different ages/audiences identify with at least one of the life stages/characters. Overall, Barnardos is portrayed quite positively as a loving, mother-like charity.

Photos I could use for magazine front cover

These photos appeal to my target audience because my target audience is teenage male gamers and the majority of them enjoy blood, violence etc and one of the rising genres in gaming is zombie games, "Dead Island" (a zombie game) had become game of the year (GOTY) due to being in a high demand by thousands of gamers, my images have the zombie like features, include blood and violence and therefore would attract my main target audience

Fish Tank Q's

Fish Tank 

All the Institutions involved in the production of Fish Tank. List them with a summary of what their contribution to the film was.

BBC Films, UK Council, Kasander Film company  and IFC Films. 
(ICF films promote a lot of low budget British films)


Two other Independent British Film production companies – their “brand”, as well as current and previous productions. Coffee films - Recently just finished the film "The death and resurrection show" and are currently working on a 2013 production called "Lucid"

Blast films - (from the website) "Our work covers a wide range – from popular documentary series like The Tube (BBC 2) and Coppers (Channel4), through to ground breaking films like Hunger, Soundproof and The Death of Klinghoffer. Uniting what we do is powerful story-telling that’s honest, impactful and emotionally compelling."

1. 
   

1. 
   Out of the three Production Companies you have researched, which do you see as most successful and why?

Blast films in my opinion is the most successful because they have produced popular documentaries which have already been shown on highly recognised channels such as BBC2 and Channel4.

How much Fish Tank cost to produce (it’s budget)
The budget it cost to produce Fish Tank was 3 million.

Film budgets – find 5 films made for £5 million pounds or less – what types of films are feasible on this budget?

Kidulthood, Adulthood, Anuvahood, The inbetweeners and Ted. Many of these films are films which have a few known actors but they aren't very highly recognised, the first four in the list are  British based, the first three are modern day gangster films with drama. The inbetweeners and Ted are both comedy related films.

How was Fish Tank funded?
funded by BBC films and the UK films 


Research one other way that British films are funded. Are there any similarities or differences?
British films can be funded by the National lottery which supports film makers within the UK 

What is the target audience for Fish Tank?

The target audience would most likely be females who are aged 15-25 in the poorer areas of Britain, living in council flats and finding it difficult to escape the life they live as the film is focused on the life of the protagonist who is a 15 year old female who is struggling with life, it shows teen dramas that are occurring within society.

Research the mainstream 16–25 youth cinema market and decide which 3 genres are most targeted at them and justify your decisions with your research.

The three genres which 16-25 year old would prefer to watch are mainly comedy, romance or horror films, this is due to the entertainment they receive from such films. Romance because this age range is the common age range in which both genders tend to flirt and start relationships and are therefore more likely to watch films about love with the one they love. Comedy creates entertainment and escapism for some, it allows them to enjoy the fun of the film and just forget about everything around them such as school work or jobs/job searching. Horror films also create entertainment for this age group, both genders wish to be scarred in able to enjoy the film, they want to feel the fear and adrenaline. (they are "adrenaline junkies" at this age)

Who is the main distributor of Fish Tank?

There are many distributors but the  main distributors of Fish Tank are Articifical eye (for the UK) and IFC films (for the US)

What is the role of a film distributor? Are there any differences between 

distribution in the US and UK?

The main role of a film distributor is to release films within the theatre or for homes. They are able to control the marketing and circulation of the films within the theatres. Low budget films wouldn't have many big distributors and are more likely to be UK films, whereas US films would be able to have international distributors due to them being of a high budget and most likely containing professional actors and having high quality films. 

How was Fish Tank promoted (when it was released in 2009)?

The movie Fish tank was promoted at 62nd Cannes film festival in France on may 14th 2009.

Compare this with a big budget blockbuster. What are the main similarities and differences?

Fish tank is a low budget film meaning that is doesn't have the high-quality of equipment compared to a big budget blockbuster such as Inception. This is because, of course, the budget of the film is low, they need more funding to produce a high-quality film.

A big budget film would have more well known actors, a lot more high-quality action and would have the best people they could find to help produce the film (who are also very well known and expensive to work with). 

Similarities would be that both budget films would be able to produce something targeted to a large audience and could possibly have similar audiences.

How does the trailer for Fish Tank hook audiences into the narrative and pose questions that the film will answer? Identify 3 ways/techniques.

Identity, the audience can feel a sense of identity with the main character, the protagonist, they see her clothing, where she lives and the way her life is and they could possibly relate to that and are therefore are hooked onto the film and wanting to see how the protagonist deals with her way of life.

The drama, the audience see a lot of drama and tension in the trailer between the protagonist and several others, this may pull them in to watching the film if drama interests them, it also creates an enigma, the audience will be wondering why this female character acts the way she is.

Enigma, throughout the trailer there is a slight enigma, the audience don't get the full picture of what is going on and are therefore pulled into the film, the audience get a glimpse of the film but aren't really told about the whole story, very few clues are given to the audience about the whole story and that could make them want to find out more.

Think about the certificate of Fish Tank (15 certificate). Research film certification and outline what is deemed acceptable for this certificate. What is the difference between a 15 certificate and an 18 certificate?

15 rated certificate allow moderate violence, gore and sexual activity but not too frequent and must be relevant. Drug taking is not banned but should not be promoted. 

An 18 rated certificate allows gore, violence, sexual activity and drug taking as long as the film does not promote these things. 

Analysis of two Yr12 productions: Romeo and The Paper boy

Romeo

starts off introducing the production companies and distributors, the music is non-diegetic, it's played over the scenes, and the characters, of course, cannot hear the music. The song used at first is "Canis Lupus" by Alexandre Desplat, this song has a soothing female singer with a beautiful and angelic voice which is accompanied by a harp, this, at the start, gives a feeling to the audience of relaxation, calmness and tranquility. The angelic instrument (harp) and the voice connote innocence and purity and the fact the music is playing while going over a character at a high angle shot connotes that this character is looked down upon by Gods or angels, the lighting is cleverly used to focus the majority of the light on the characters head which connotes that maybe there is hope within this character, that this character is an innocent character but due to the character hiding his face and looking down connotes he doesn't believe in himself or linking it to the fact it's low-key lighting it could connote that he is a dark character, he acts out and is cruel to those around him but the music and the light focusing on him suggests that even though he acts like this that at heart he is in-fact an innocent and loving character, he may be portrayed as a bad person but he isn't truly like that. The editing is parallel to the music, it's smooth and calm, fades at the start, you also see at around 18seconds a panning shot which is an extreme close up of the eyes of the assumed main character/protagonist, the same music is still playing over this scene and could connote that this characters eyes see purity or is pure (the eyes never lie) it suggest that this character isn't a bad character. 

The title is then shown "Romeo" but gets cut a short while after to a black screen which connotes that this famous heart-throb name "Romeo" isn't exactly going to be a perfect happy ending, there will be some sort of darkness/blackness. The fact that it cuts straight to black after the name "Romeo" could also connote that it is this character "Romeo" who will create this darkness or is the darkness. After the cut, a fade is used to bring in the shot of a city silhouette, the sky is quite pink or red which connotes more love emotions than anger emotions due to the pinkness in the colour (if red was more dominant then it could connote anger, strong love or blood) the music has also changed from an angelic female singer to a slightly urban, calm male voice with the sound editing effect of auto tune which connotes that even though the song may be featuring a calm male voice it does have this slight imperfection about it, it has a unnatural effect in the voice which could foreshadow a bad event occurring with good intentions (e.g. relating to the title "Romeo", it could foreshadow a love gone bad situation). The song used now is "Lost in the world" by Kanye West featuring Bon Iver, this choice of song could connote that the protagonist/eponymous hero "Romeo" may be lost in a world of love due to the fact the name Romeo is highly known by the famous shakespeare love tragedy play of "Romeo and Juliet" and also the previous scene where the cut occurred may be foreshadowing this as the bad event of the main character "Romeo" being lost in the world of love.

The editing at this point is slightly short scenes with fades which are parallel to the music, you also see two silhouettes of characters, one of which looks like the main protagonist "Romeo" who leans in to give the other character a kiss, this is from a low angle shot which connotes that "Romeo" and this other character have a lot of power but the lighting is low-key which gives this effect of silhouettes, this connotes that these two characters together are seen negatively and have some sort of darkness within them but it shows more of "Romeo" than the character he kisses which could connote that it's "Romeo" with the greater power and darkness within him. The song lyrics "I'm building a still to slow down time" links to the scene where "Romeo" is kissing the other character, he's building a romantic moment which will slow down time, make it more meaningful and long. The part where the song says "To slow down time" shows a low angle, long shot showing two characters walking side by side towards the camera with strong confident poses and walks in slow motion which makes the song parallel to the scene, the low angle shot along side the facial expression and stances as they walk connotes they have power and are possibly angry and maybe looking for someone which links to the next scene which is of a blurred POV shot from a low angle of someone kicking the character we are seeing from, it allows the audience to identify with this character which is being kicked, we are placed in the characters position and we look up at this attacker making us the audience feel weak and giving this attacker the higher power.

Soon after we see a close up of two characters holding hands which shortly after is followed by a sunset which connotes romance and love but then followed the character "Romeo" kicking a locker and storming off angrily, which connotes that the relationship between the two characters holding hands is possibly the reason why he is upset, the music is still parallel, the character kicks the locker at the same time the music changes its pace with a loud bang or clap. The scene ends with a cut which shows the tension and anger the character feels. We soon hear a short argument which is used in a sound bridge over a montage of romantic scenes, it shows these two characters arguing and pushing each other, the lighting used is low-key lighting, a lot of shadows which connotes the darkness and atmosphere in the room at the time, from that moment onwards the editing is quicker, fades used are reduced and cuts are in place more as well as one more blurred POV shot of "Romeo" attacking the person we are seeing from, it a low angle shot which again gives "Romeo" the higher power, making Romeo be seen as the stronger and more powerful one.

The video ends with the music stopping and an extreme close up of "Romeo" with half the screen covered by half his face and a character far in the back shouting "Romeo, you don't have to do this" which creates an enigma in the audiences mind, they are questioning what "Romeo" is going to do, we've seen that he has attacked someone which could possibly be what the character is preventing "Romeo" from doing but it isn't fully clear.

WWW: clever editing used with the music, good choice of songs to match what the narrative is about, a wide range of shots were used.

EBI: maybe add in a voice over to give the audience a clearer understand of what is actually going on and have the voices projected more clearly, the music was quite loud and distracting over the voices.

The Paper Boy

The Paper Boy starts off with scary horror music which connotes that what the audience is about to watch is related to the horror  genre, the setting is then established with a panning shot of a school grounds and the iconic sound of a school bell ringing, you then see a character dressed in school uniform walking through double doors with a strong pose but slightly frightened facial expression which could foreshadow a bad event which links to the next scene which occurs with a straight cut with a flash, you see many black and white moving images with a few flashes which connotes memories and flashbacks, this gives the audience some idea of what the story line/narrative is, it tells the audience that this horror film may be a horror due to some sort of past event in the characters life. The scene which followed after the boy walking through the doors is a panning shot of a group of school boys laughing and following this protagonist character, a quick fade leads to two female characters laughing and pointing, the scene which follows is assumed to be what the female characters were laughing at and that is the group of boys  bullying the protagonist. The words "10 years later" appear straight after the bullying scene and is followed by a grown male character walking along the street almost bumping into a female, this could connote that this male character is the protagonist who was being bullied in the black and white flashbacks.

We see more black and white flashbacks with quick cut editing. Just before the pace of the music changes slightly we see a black and white image of a child laying his head in his arms on a table, this fades into a colour moving image of a fully grown male character in the same seat doing the same actions but lifts his head as the music changes pace, this connotes that this male character is the same character but older than the younger black and white character, this was also in a slightly high angle shot looking down on this male character, making the audience look down on him and make him feel weak and make the audience feel superior to him, this is then followed by another flashback which shows three female school characters laughing and pointing as they walk through a door possibly at this protagonist when he was a child.

The camera is then positioned above a stairwell and is in a high angle shot position, it looks down on a female character, linking to the last scene its possible that this female character was one of the female school girl characters that laughed at the protagonist, the camera follows the female character as she runs up the stairs and pans around as she enters an elevator with a male character, the music used for this shot had changed to a faster but still scary horror genre music (SAW film theme tune). We could also assume that the camera was from a POV shot, as the girl ran up the stairs there were fades being used as if someone was blinking and watching the girl run up the stairs, it puts us, the audience, in the position of someone who could possibly be in this horror film, the audience will feel as if they are part of the film and therefore will feel a lose of security and an increase of fear due to the film being a horror.

Straight after that scene we are back into black and white effect and are looking at a wall with the word "REVENGE" written on it and an image of a male and female below it, the writing and image is dripping and fading/losing its colour, a flash occurs and then a close up of the image of the male and female is shown which connotes that maybe the female is meant to be the girl who got into the elevator an the male is the person next to her, they both could been seen as the victims of the film. The music stops and the male character runs out the elevator, you can hear a heartbeat and heavy breathing which is assumed to be the male characters heartbeat and breathing, fades and flashes are used as the male runs to his car in slow motion (which creates tension) as if he is losing focus and concentration, this creates an enigma for the audience, what could have caused the male character to have ran? or breath heavy? why is his vision blurred?.

Music starts up again as soon as a character wearing a paper bag on his head jumps in front of a car window which is seen from a low angle shot, giving the character on the car more power, the majority of the black and white shots are then shown again but in a backwards motion, rewinding as if to connote that "this is where it all began".

WWW: The use of slow motion, the sound editing of the heat beat and heavy breathing, clear  conventions of the genre.

EBI: The lighting needed to be more focused on to really set the mood of the horror film and if more angles were used at some points.

Fish Tank Review

Director: Andrea Arnold known for - No.73 (1982), Fish Tank (2009), Red Road (2006) and Wasp (2003)

Main Stars: Katie Jarvis, Micheal Fassbender and Kierston Wareing

                   

Katie Jarvis isn't very well known, has starred in a TV series the same year as Fish Tank called "Perfect day", offered a role in the popular British based film "SHANK" but rejected the role.

Micheal Fassbender is slightly more well known, starred in "300", "Angel", "Agatha Christie:Poirot" before "Fish Tank" and he has appeared in several other TV series or TV films/shorts but after "Fish Tank" he had become more known starring in "Inglourious Basterds", "Jonah Hex", Voiced a video game character for Fable3, starred in "X-Men: First Class" and "Prometheus"

Kierston Wareing isn't as well known as Micheal but is more known than Katie Jarvis, she starred in two TV series, one short, starred in the film "It's a free world" as the main role and the "RIse of the Footsoldier"

Plot: I believe the story is about a teenager who is stuck in this low society lifestyle, she is struggling to get free from this lifestyle. In the film there is this white horse which connotes purity but the horse is chained down and looks weak and dying, in some sense it relates to the female protagonist, she is chained down to her lifestyle, she can't escape it, she has pure talent of dancing but she struggles to escape her life, this links to the title of the film "Fish Tank" in a fish tank you are able to see outside at the world but you're unable to leave your current surroundings, you are limited to your surroundings, just like how the protagonist is limited with her choices, also during the film the mother of the protagonist dances to some music just before the protagonist leaves to go on a trip with a friend, the protagonist dances with the mother and they both do almost the exact same moves as if to say that the daughter will eventually end up like her mother no matter what, she can't escape it, the youngest daughter also joined in with the dancing behind the protagonist (her older sister) which shows that its like a cycle within the family, soon the youngest daughter will end up just like the mother and her older sister, they are all limited to their surroundings and are just like each other.

Characters: Katie Jarvis = protagonist (Mia), her acting skills are amazing, shows pure emotions and feelings of anger as if they come from within, she is apparently from a similar background which could possible give her the chance to really express her feelings through the film, but at some points I couldn't find her character convincing enough, I sometimes I lost myself in the film due to her acting and raw emotions but then sometimes she didn't do such a good job in making me believe she is Mia and not an actor.

Micheal Fassbender = Connor, the potential step-father who happens to be a family man from a better off lifestyle than Mia and her mother, Micheal is also very talented in showing strong emotions, he is able to portray this good guy feel about him to the audience, able to trick the audience in believing his character but does make it slightly obvious of his feelings for the other characters, he is able to make the audience question themselves, they see how he acts to Mia but isn't sure if he's thinking what the audience think or if it's all just in our minds.

Kierston Wareing = Joanne, the mother of Mia, I think her acting was pretty good majority of the time, showing her hatred for Mia but at some points I didn't find her very convincing, I did find her more convincing than Katie but not as much as Micheal

Genre: Drama, I think the film met my expectations of what is needed in a drama, it had some very tense moments and sad or upsetting images of family life in an area in which the characters live in, there was a lot of family issues in that film which is where I believe the majority of the drama came from, the tension between the mother and Mia.

Soundtrack: I didn't notice much of the soundtrack but it was cleverly used within the film linking the music to the scenes, the music was parallel to what was being shown on the screen.

Audience: I believe that this film is mainly targeted at teenagers who are going through a similar situation and live a similar lifestyle to Mia, it allows them to identify with Mia and feel comfort and security knowing that they aren't the only ones living like this, it's to show people that there are others out there going through the same thing, you're not alone. It also allows the audience to see how other may deal with their problems and situations and see if they can either follow or divert from their current path, a secondary target audience would most likely be people who live a "well-off" lifestyle, they have and get the best possible things without much effort, it's most likely to show that some people aren't as privileged as you, help others who are in need of help and don't take your life for granted.